Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell


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4 Stars

To begin with, allow me to see your . . . .



And raise you “so do all these dang neighbors and families and couples” in today’s book titles. You’d think they lived next door to a creeper like me who just wants to peep them but never actually meet them!

Second, I requested this book because it had a house on the cover. The version I received had hemlock or some shit instead, but trust that the house cover auto-request truly is a sickness that I have to fight tooth and nail to avoid. Bonus when I discovered it was by Lisa Jewell who I have really enjoyed in the past. But that’s all I knew. I just assumed it was going to be some “ drunken unreliable narrator on a train in a window who may or may not be gone” type of storyline. When it turned out to be . . . . .



Welllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll . . . . .



The story here is presented by siblings Lucy and Henry and “the baby” Libby. Libby has just turned 25 and inherited what is known as The Chelsea House (basically code name for mansion) due to no one else on the trust coming forward in time to claim their share. The remainder of the story tells the family history, the house’s history and all of the goings on that occurred between the now and the back then when the parents and another man were found . . . . .



If you are looking for a lot of action and plot twists, this might not work for you. But if you enjoy slow rollers and family secrets it might be just what the doctor ordered. You’ll probably find the big reveal to be pretty obvious if you are an avid thriller reader, but it didn’t make me any less entertained while I was reading. Lisa Jewell has become a go-to-gal for me. I’ll happily auto request anything she puts out at this point – even if there isn’t a house on the cover ; )

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you, NetGalley!

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